Author
Topic: Windlass Hewing Spear – Mounted (Read 5175 times)

Yet another project that sat on my shelf far too long! The Windlass Hewing Spear is inexpensive and it looks good from 10 feet away. The historical inaccuracies are obvious and far too numerous to mention here, but that’s not the point of this post.

The point is I had $20 burning a hole in my pouch at the War of the Lilies (SCA - Calontir, Kansas City) two years ago and this shiny object caught my eye. Fast forward to last week when I picked up a 6 foot long 1.5 inch diameter pole at the local hardware store.

The pine pole was nothing fancy, but it was straight and the grain was true. I clamped it to my workbench and used an old school hand plane to give it a gentle octagonal shape with an average finished diameter of 1.25 inches.

The business end of the pole was further planed to accommodate the spear socket. Most of my time was spent test fitting the spearhead then planning a little bit more. Repeat. Once satisfied with a snug fit, I hand rubbed three coats of boiled linseed oil into the shaft allowing a day drying time between each coat.

The spearhead had two little holes at the base of the socket. I made two little arming nails from carpeting nails I had laying around. The nails were placed in a vice and the heads gently shaped with a small ball peen hammer to appear handmade.

The spear head had rusted a bit after two years on my shelf. I used 1000 grit sandpaper to remove the rust and a buffing wheel with metal (black) compound to bring it back to life.

I applied slow-cure epoxy to the tapered end of the shaft and firmly seated the spear head. The two arming nails were added to ensure this was never coming apart.

The final tally is $25 in materials and 2 full hours of labor spread over several days. Not bad for a spear that looks good from 10 feet away!

"Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say Ni at will to old ladies. There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress in this period in history." - Roger the Shrubber

You make it seem so easy, Sir. Looks great! I have a similar spearhead (the Windlass Euro) that I've needed to mount over a year now I'm sure. Suppose I should get on it, eh?

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The Black Knight, Order of the Marshal'Per Pale Azure and Sable, a Chevron counterchanged fimbriated argent.' “Pride makes a man, it drives him, it is the shield wall around his reputation. Men die, but reputation does not.”

You callin me old, Sir James? I know how many years it was! Ok, so it was two. lol

Same one, obviously. I'm the duke of procrastinators!

Logged

The Black Knight, Order of the Marshal'Per Pale Azure and Sable, a Chevron counterchanged fimbriated argent.' “Pride makes a man, it drives him, it is the shield wall around his reputation. Men die, but reputation does not.”

Sir William, I have tons of half-started projects lying about my shop and sewing room. You're not alone.

This one was truly easy; I just had to get off my butt.

I'm in the process of refinishing my workbench (yet another old project). Once completed this week, I'll be able to continue with some more unfinished projects.

Logged

"Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say Ni at will to old ladies. There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress in this period in history." - Roger the Shrubber

Sir William, I have tons of half-started projects lying about my shop and sewing room. You're not alone.

This one was truly easy; I just had to get off my butt.

And there's the rub...once I sit it down in its custom-fit couch pad, I think Atlas has an easier time of getting up than I do. lol

Logged

The Black Knight, Order of the Marshal'Per Pale Azure and Sable, a Chevron counterchanged fimbriated argent.' “Pride makes a man, it drives him, it is the shield wall around his reputation. Men die, but reputation does not.”

"Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say Ni at will to old ladies. There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress in this period in history." - Roger the Shrubber

It's so clean and organized! Something is clearly wrong with this. I insist you do a project and leave stuff scattered all over it...

You’re right, of course!

I’m a little particular about my tools, shop, etc. I once loaned a throat-less sheet metal shear (Beverly shear) to a friend and he cut round stock with it. The friendship didn’t end, but loaning out tools did.

My wife’s a high school varsity volleyball coach in a department with little money. As soon as I’m done repairing and rebuilding the last ball cart, I’ll get back to more fun stuff.

Logged

"Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say Ni at will to old ladies. There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress in this period in history." - Roger the Shrubber